ADSL is primarily aimed at the Business user. It is ideal for small and larger businesses, and, in our opinion, most businesses will be using ADSL for Internet access in a very short time. There are strong cost reasons as well as added benefits which will make ADSL the almost inevitable choice for business Internet access. If your organisation operates from more than one site then the benefits are even greater – look at Multi-Site Organisation

We have all realised that the Internet is an important, if not already essential, means of business communication. Whilst business to consumer communication over the Net is really only in its infancy, direct communication between businesses, refered to as B2B (business to business) is increasingly relying on the NET. We still need to meet people, we need the phone to talk with contacts and colleagues, and we will continue to post contracts and important signed documents. But, e-mail is great for both quick fire notes – "see you on Monday at 10.00," "no make it Wed 11," "ok"- and for moving bulk information (the attachment of data on spreadsheets, files etc), which shows that "profitability is rising but fixed costs are rising too."  These can then be assessed, altered and sent back.

E-mail is currently the application on the Net which every business is using. The problem is that many small, and even large, businesses rely on a dial up connection which only sends and receives e-mail once every hour or two. If both parties are doing this then the communication might take several hours. For important information this is too long. The answer to this common problem is to use ADSL’s "Always On" feature so that e-mail moves as quickly to a customer or supplier as is does to a colleague across the office, in minutes.

Many businesses are also starting to use Web pages to communicate. Going beyond a simple electronic brochure, web pages can be made available to a private group (eg key customers or suppliers) to give restricted or individually tailored information (eg customer X’s own price list). Businesses are starting to exploit the real potential of the Net by using web sites in a wide variety of creative ways – ordering, progress, reporting. But as information on the Net grows in sophistication and importance, web sites will need to be integrated into the data in the office.  If we take an order over the net, why can’t the data go straight into the order processing systems? - we can report order status particularly if the information comes straight from the in- house systems. As communication by use of the web grows so the connection from in-house information in each business and the Net will require the "higher capacity" connection of ADSL as well as the ‘always on’ capability.

By connecting businesses with ‘high capacity’ Net connections, which are ‘always on’ it is possible, and much more cost effective than at present, to provide easy remote access to a businesses in-house systems. For field staff and the Director or manager working away from the office (whether at home or at the other end of the country) is possible to connect to the office relatively seamlessly. With some careful set-up by us, the remote user can work with office systems as though he or she was in the office, but be miles away.

There are several key benefits of ADSL which will encourage many businesses to spend more on Internet connection in the future. The overall cost effectiveness of integrating information with customers, suppliers and partners is nothing compared to the potential benefit of tying in customers and in reducing waste due to current miscommunication.  For some business there will be cost savings. Already some businesses use the Net heavily and the current cost of Internet calls is well above the cost of ADSL connection.  For these high use businesses there will be cost savings.  For all businesses which choose ADSL to connect the Net there will be a major overriding benefit on cost. ADSL is ‘fixed cost,’ and since call charges are done away with for ADSL, your Internet access charges will be known in advance. Now isn’t that amazing?!  From an industry full of promise and mystic, where almost all users doubt the benefits, and are uncertain of costs. No fear of alarm as Internet usage grows and call charges come in after every quarter. You and your business will know in advance how much your Internet access is going to cost.